As global climate challenges grow, Top Tier Impact (TTI) convened two exclusive roundtables during NY Climate Week 2024, bringing together leading investors, corporates, innovators, and environmental experts to discuss urgent action on climate change and the need for increased investment in nature and biodiversity.
The events, held on September 23rd and September 26th, provided a platform for industry leaders to share innovative approaches towards net-zero and expanding nature-based investments—two critical pillars of sustainability.
Corporate Transition: Insetting and Offsetting
The first roundtable, moderated by Humberto Juarez Rocha, Carbon and Biodiversity Editor at OPIS and Alessa Berg, Founder and CEO at Top Tier Impact, focused on how companies can implement insetting (reducing emissions within their supply chains) and offsetting (investing in external carbon reduction projects). The following industry experts offered insights into how they are navigating decarbonization challenges: Sebastien Douieb, Senior Investment Office, Real Assets, New York State Common Retirement Fund; Jerome Rouphael, Commodities Institutional Sales & Structuring at JP Morgan; Kristina Anguelova, Senior Advisor on Sustainable Banking at WWF; Robert Allard, Co-Founder at MaxSum Environmental and prev. Chief Investment Officer at Rothesay Asset Management.
A key message from the event was the need for businesses to integrate nature-based solutions and to build strong partnerships with all different stakeholders was emphasized as a way to ensure carbon reduction efforts also support ecosystem restoration.
Nature Investments: Closing the Financing Gap
The second roundtable, held on September 26th, tackled the significant financing gap in nature and biodiversity investments. Despite nature's critical role in climate resilience, investment in nature-based solutions remains limited. Allison Voss, Nature Innovation Lead at World Economic Forum; David Sternlicht, Nature Investing at Ethic; Erika Basham, Director, Investments & Product Strategy at Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund; and Kahlil Baker, CEO at Taking Root discussed barriers to scaling nature investments, including regulatory challenges and the need for new financial products and impact metrics. The discussion, moderated by Alessa Berg and Ilkay Demirdag, Head of Global Events at Top Tier Impact, focused on accelerating the mainstream adoption of nature investments, driven by growing investor interest in aligning portfolios with nature-positive outcomes.
Role of Investors and Innovators
Investors emphasized aligning capital with sustainability goals, highlighting financial and societal benefits of green technology and renewable energy investments. They also stressed the importance of innovation in helping companies manage carbon footprints and transition to net-zero emissions.
Alessa Berg states "Integrating nature into corporate strategy isn't just about decarbonization — it comes down to preserving the natural ecosystems we depend on and creating a future where businesses and nature thrive together."
Ilkay Demirdag states "Investors have a unique opportunity to drive systemic change by aligning capital with biodiversity and climate resilience."
These impactful events were sponsored and supported by Ethic, Gensler, Griffitts LLP, OmniReality, OPIS, and Sustainable Views.